Being Raised
by Allytsuki
Summary: Linda moved towards the proper trimmed bush. "H-Hello?" It was definetely a child crying in there. Gently she pushed some branches away. Sitting there was a little boy with pitch black hair, hugging his knees. She froze. Right there on his forehead rested a lightningbolt shaped scar. What was Harry Potter doing hiding in a bush?- / Alternative Harry Upbringing / later CANON PAIRING
1. The boy in the hedge

**I know...I know...I'm still not finished with 'Bad case of lovin' you'...and I discontinued my last Harry Potter story...but...TO HELL WITH IT!**

**It will be an experiment, you know? Everybody who might have read 'You can't be Sirius!' might like my new story, so maybe I'll send you readers out there a PM.**

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**Summary:**

Linda is a muggleborn witch, who recently graduated from Hogwarts together with her best friend Cassandra - or Cassie as she prefers. For the moment Linda has no concrete plasn for her life; only goals on the road: Get a job, get married, have children and die peacefully of old age.

After she applied for a job as a researching assistent by a more or less famous wizard historian, she meets a little boy on holiday, who had been hiding in a hedge frightened and crying.

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**Chapter 1**

**The boy in the hedge**

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It was late July in the year 1986. The summers heat still lingered in the dry air, although it had been already past nine o'clock and thick clouds started to cover the coming night sky.

A thunderstorm was announcing itself.

Not even the litllest corn of dust lingered on the pavement in this neighbourhood. Every grass stalk was proper trimmed on exactly one and a half inches. Not a single hedge owned a leaf out of place.

"This is ALL your faul!" The voices of two young women halled through the empty street.

"If we just had taken a port key or the knight bus or simply travelled by floo THIS would have never happened!"

"Cassie! Please!", hushed the other woman. "Don't forget we-"

"Oh you so do not need to remember me WHERE we are. Really! Out of the foolishest ideas you ever had this one topped everything!" The first woman gasped. "Really Linda! Why today! Why now?"

"B-But the taxi driver-" Linda looked guilty to the pavement as she pulled her trunk behind her.

"Oh, didn't ya' get it? That bastard scammed us! He drove purposely all around London, then out of it, and THEN into this godforsaken dump!" With an agitated stomp, Cassie rushed forward, leaving her slow friend behind.

"Please, calm down...I'm sure we reach the Inn in no time..."

"The hell I calm down. - Remind me to never ever listen to you again!" Cassie swirled around pointing her forefinger at Linda.

"B-But Cassie!"

"NO BUTS! - I'm sick of this stupid muggle town!"

With trembling fingers Linda pulled of her tattered backpack and searched through it.

"I was so sure, I brought a map with me...", she mumbled. Meanwhile Cassie rubbed her temples, calming sightly down and then went over to her friend to help her.

"Ah! I got it!", cheered Linda, before she unfolded the piece of paper. "There!" She tipped with her forefinger at a red circle. There's the Inn...Now where are we..."

Cassie looked around for any street signs. "Look, theres a crossroad. Let's go..." Nodding Linda shouldered her backpack and grabbed her trunk. "Okay."

As they reached the streetsigns, Cassie let out a growl. "Wisteria Walk?"

"What?" Linda blinked. "It sounds lovely!"

"Please Linda...An alliteraition, that's so stuffy!"

"Shouldn't we concentrate on the map?!"

Together they searched over London's suburbs for the "Wisteria Walk", when a muffled, high pitched cry sounded out of the hedge beside him. Startled, Linda jumped almost against a lamp post.

"In the name of Circe...", breathed Cassie.

Linda was the first one to move towards the proper trimmed box tree. "H-Hello?" The next cry was louder, more defined. It was definately a child crying in that bush.

Gently, Linda pushed some branches away to glimpse inside the hedge. Sitting there was a little boy with pitch black hair, hugging his knees and crying misrealy.

"There's a little boy in there..." She stepped in the front yard and searched for the loophole, the boy had used to crawl into the hedge.

"Hey there...", hummed Linda after finding the hole and sticking her head through it. Now that she could have a better look at him, her eyes widened in shock. The boy wore an old, wide greyish – at least she hoped that it was grey and not once white - T-shirt, brown trousers and worn down pair of trainers. His left arm was covered in bruises, blood was smeared over his forehead and some of it had obviously dropped on his clothes.

What had happened to this poor boy?

"Are you allright?" Shaking, the boy looked up. He leaned further into the bush, trying to escape. "Hey..." Linda smiled warmly. „My name is Linda. What's your name?"

The boy sniffed. "Ha-Harry." With his tiny hands he wiped over his snotty nose and stared still scared over to her.

"So Harry...Would you like to come out of this hedge?"

The boy shook his head.

"Not even if I have some dinosaur plasters and chocolate?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment, but in the end the want for chocolate won. Carefully he followed Linda out of the hedge. When he spotted Cassie, Harry gasped in panic and hid behind Linda, who was still kneeing on the lawn.

"Don't worry, Harry. That's just Cassie..." Cassie smiled reassuring but didn't leave her spot next to her trunk. "She doesn't bite."

Linda opened her backpack to pull out the traveller's first aid kid she always carried around.

"First the plasters, then the chocolate, okay?!" Harry nodded dilingently.

As she cleaned Harry's forehead with a bit water and her pointed tissue, she asked him:

"So...why were you sitting in that hedge?"

"I...I was hinding..." Harry looked down to his feet.

"Hiding? From what?"

"Dudley...", he mumbled. Linda raised her eyebrow. "Is he your big brother?"

"No...he's my cou-cou-" He wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Your cousin?", asked Cassie. The boy nodded faintly.

Linda poured more water over the now bloody tissue and wringed it out. "You're a really brave boy, Harry!" Harry smiled weakly, looking shyly upt to her out of the corner of his eyes. "Really?", he asked slightly proud of himself.

"Ofcourse. - You know, when my brother once cut his finger with his pocket knife he started screaming and crying so loud, everybody in our neighbourhood thought he had chopped it actually off!" That let Harry grin slightly. His smile filled Linda's heart with a warm, fuzzy feeling. How could anybody do harm against this sweet little boy. Tears shot in her eyes, but when she pushed Harry's messy bangs aside, she froze. Right there on his forehead rested a lightningbolt shaped scar. For a moment Linda couldn't breath. What was Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one doing in a muggle neighbourhood bruised and beaten. Wouldn't his guardians choose a home, where he would be safe?

"...know...It's freaky..." Linda snapped out of her shock.

"'scuse me?"

"My scar...", mumbled Harry and rubbed it with his fingertips. "Aunt 'Tunia says it's ugly."

"No, no...I don't think it's ugly."

Harry blinked surprised. "Really?"

"Really. - It looks...cool?!" Inwardly Linda could have kicked herself. The constant reminder of his parents murder shouldn't be cool. "I mean, who can say, that they have a scar, that looks exactly like a lightningbolt?" She said it loud enough for Cassie to hear. "Right, Cassie?" Linda turned around and faced Cassie with a paniked expression.

"...Uh...Yeah, it's totally awesome...", she replied with a slightly shaken voice.

Harry's grin spread from one ear to the other. "I like it too!" Linda turned back to him and picked a slim box out of the first aid kit.

"So, which one do you want to have? Red or yellow?" She showed him to plasters, one in deep red with dinosaurs and one in yellow with birds on it.

"The red one please." His grinn didn't disappear while Linda sticked the plaster over his small cut above his eyebrow.

"There...all done! - And now..." Harry's eyes practically glued to her hands, as she pulled a chocolate bar out of her backpack. "...your reward." She held it out to him.

For a short moment, Harry just stared down at the chocolate. Unbelieving to this deed, this gift. Then he slowly raised his dirty hand, let it linger only inches away from the bar and only after Linda held it nearer too him, he grabbed it.

Carefully, as if he was afraid to break it, he unwrapped it and stared at the brown sweet infont of him. He glimpsed up to Linda, who was still smiling reassuring down to him, and bit off a corner.

"Is it good?"

Harry nodded enthusiasticly, smiling wide and brightly, like child would do on christmas. Christmas...Did he even get presents on christmas? Was only the cousin so cruel or the guardians too? Did they beat him regulary or just this once? Ofcourse she couldn't ask him these questions. Or could she?

They let him eat his chocolate bar in silence, watched how he savoured every single bite on his little tongoue, so that this terrified and bullied boy could enjoy this rare moment of peace.

When he finally swallowed the last piece, Linda took the paper out of Harry's hands and pulled him on his feet. "So Harry, should we bring you home? It's pretty late you know?!"

The boy chewed on his bottom lip, calculating different scenarios in his head. In the end he nodded. "Okay."

He gladly took Linda's outstreged Hand and gripped it with all his might. The walked over to Cassie, Linda used her free hand do pull her trunk and began walking down the street.

"Where do you live Harry?", asked Cassie as they reached the crossroad between 'Magnolia Crescent' and 'Wisteria Walk'.

"Privet Drive number four..."

"You know the way?" Harry peeked up to Cassies tall frame and nodded. "Then lead the way!", chuckled Cassie.

As they walked down 'Magnolia Crescent' Harry's grip on Linda's hand gre tighter and tighter, when they passed the croosroad to 'Magnolia Road', Harry was practically glued to her legs. Linda had to be carefull not to stumble.

But when they reached 'Privet Drive', Haryy couldn't even move an inch.

"Shall I carry you?" Harry nodded faintly, as Linda wasted no time to scoope him up her arms. He was far to light for Linda's liking. She could feel his boney knees and elbows in her side and how his small head hid in her crook of the neck.

Without even asking, Cassie pulled Linda's trunk to her. Linda mouthed a 'thank you', to which Cassie only shook her head.

It wasn't long after, when they arrived the neat and proper hous of Private Drive No. 4. They left their trunks on the pavement, before they walked over the trimmed lawn to the front door.

Linda put Harry down as Cassie rang the door bell. Not a few moments later, the door opened and reavealed a tall and thin woman.

"Yes?", she asked with a sharp voice. Then her gaze fell down to Harry, who had cutched his little hands into Linda's yellow skirt. "You! What have you done this time?!"

Harry flinched, pressing his face against Linda's hip.

"Oh...he just got lost, Mrs.-" Linda glanced at the doorplate. „Dursley. We just helped him to find home." Mrs Dursley snorted scornfully.

"Please, he just tried to run away!" Wit her long, clawy hands she ripped the boy away from Linda and yanked him over the doorstep.

"Vernon!" ,shrieked Mrs Dursley. "He's back!" Someone cursed and ranted in a room farther,

but never came out.

"Come on, into the cupboard and no-" The door fell closed.

Linda and Cassie could only blink. They only heard Harry crying again and how a door was shut vehemently, but nothing more.

"Did she just say...cupboard?!", gasped Linda. She raised her hand and wanted to ring the door bell again, but Cassie stopped her.

"You can't do anything. These people are his guardians."

"But that doesn't mean they are allowed to treat him like that!" Desperately Linda shook her head. "We...We can't let him stay here..."

"I beg do differ, Linda. You can't let him stay there." Cassie stared at her for another moment right into her dark brown eyes, but then turned around to walk over to her suitcases.

"B-But Cassie-" Linda stumbled after her friend, trying to pull her back.

"Linda! - What do you plan?" Cassie snorted. "We've got no money, no home and no job! We are students through and through! No even one year out of Hogwarts and you already want to feed another mouth?! - You can't take in a boy like a lost puppie! Eventually he will have to go to school, need new clothes and stuff like that! - We are broke, Linda. Some people would consider us poor, did you know that? What could you give him that this people don't already?"

Without a warning Cassie took her wand out of her backpack and swayed it. Immedately the trunks shrunk to the sizes of puppet furniture.

"We're leaving this place, _now_!", barked Cassie.

Looking deafeated, Linda gave a last glance at 'Private Drive No. 4', before she tucked her own trunk into her backpack.

"I swear someday your kindheartness will bring us to the grave. - Now, let's just apparate to the 'Leaky Cauldron' and use the Floo Network." Linda swallowed. Apparently she hated both of these travelling modes.

After looking for any possible muggles, who could watch them, they disaparated with a loud CRACK!

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**End of the chapter **

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**Well what do you think? Certanly better than my first try on a HP fanfiction^^**

**I'm currently without a beta, but if somebody is interested I can not only promise the hell of spelling mistakes and grammatic disfunctions, but also** sneek peaks** and confidential knowledge ;)**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Allytsuki**


	2. Leaving the Dursley's home

**Wow guys...not even uploaded for 24h and already 4 follwers and 2 favourites for thus unspecific fanfiction! I'm honored!**

**So as a thank you to you three TevilAG, hotstuff124, BlackPhoenix23, here's the second chapter^^**

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**Chapter 2**

**Leaving the Dursley's home**

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Linda sat at her kitchen table in her small flat at the outskirts of Aberdeen. Infront of her dozents of books and parchments all written in old runes, some parchments and a half emptied ink jar. Her head rested on her forearms as she stared at her freshly painted wall. She had moved into this flat not more than five months ago, after she had accepted that scholarship for ancient runes in exchange for helping August McDonald with his research about King Arthur's search for the Holy Grale. It payed enough for a two bedroom flat - actually it payed only half of it and all of her living expensives. She got this flat on a discount, because it was rumored tob be haunted. Well...it was haunted, but not by scary knights or murderer, no Linda had the luck to live in the only flat in Great Britain, which was haunted by a ghost cat.

Cassie had chosen a scholarship in the south of Ireland, where she helped Julius McDonald (August McDonalds cousin) with a research about Morgan La'Fey's missed her best friend terribly and she thought that Cassie did too, althoug it never sounded like that in her letters. But Linda knew, that her friend had always been like that. After all both of them had benn in the same grade at Hogwarts and had started their friendship in 4th year after Linda's kettle had exploded in potions and the strangely lilac substance splattered all over Cassie's school robes.

And now Linda was glad that Cassie acted neutral, because otherwise she would blurt out, that she had been secretly visiting Harry. It only had been five times. She waited on the other side of the street, early in the morning by dawn with a bag full of sweets and something to play for Harry. They would talk...well Linda would tell him the tales of beedle the bard, asking him about primary school and how the Dursleys were treating him at the momemt. The first time they met like that, was a complete coincedence. Linda just apparated after a sleepless night infront of the house and simply stared at it. But after a while the front door suddenly opened and Harry Potter stared back at her. And so they had the silent agreement, that she would come every last sunday per month. Then they would be eating sweets at five o'clock in the morning with colouring books and playing tag. For christmas she had bought him a small plush owl he kept hidden unter his mattress, so that Mrs Dursley – or worse his cousin Dudley – couldn't find it by accident.

Now it was January and the only thing Linda's mind could focus on, was if Harry had enough to eat, if he didn't feel cold in his tiny cupboard or if he was simply (un)happy. She never had asked, if Harry wanted to leave the Dursley's, but somehow the feeling, that Harry should stay with her, never left her mind. "What should I do Minnie?" Linda looked to the transparent persian cat, that sat on her kitchen counter. Minnie preferred to lick her paw, than to answer. Linda was only 19 years old, she shouldn't be worrying about things like that, but somehow she couldn't stop. "I can't let him stay there...I just can't..." She sighed heavily. This would be a long day.

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"HARRY!"Aunt Petunia's high pitched noise howled through the whole house, but Harry did not listen to it, as he sat outside only clad in his old, hand me down pullover and payama pants. "Finish your chores!" Cleaning, scrubbing, Ironing. It was already eleven o'clock on the last sunday of February and Linda hadn't come to visit him. She had come everytime, but why not today. Harry felt far too cold to cry, although hot tears lingered in his eyes. "HARRY POTTER – Come here this instant!"

Harry did not move. He just sat there beside the mailbox and waited. The front door bursted open and revealed a with anger filled Petunia Dursley. "Come in here this instant, you ungratefull brat!" Harry ddidn't even flinch and kept staring at the other side of the street. She had to come. She always did. She promised. Aunt Petunia meanwhile had thrown over her rosa coat with those ugly bobbles, which Harry always considered as choked hairballs Mrs Figg's cats always left behind, and stepped outsided through the snow. "This will have consequences! - Vernon!" Uncle Vernon followed his wife stomping like an elephant ready to crunch everything disobediend with his fatty palms. "You should be thankfull, that we take care of you; fed you, clothed you, raised you!", howled Uncle Vernon as he reached Harry and grabbed for his shoulder. "Don't expect us to care for you, if you fall ill!" Harry started to struggle, trying to get out of his uncles grip. "Come on you insolent child!"

"NO! I don't want to!" Harry kicked with his tiny legs in the air, as uncle Vernon tried to drack him back inside. Uncle Vernon's face changed from red to a faint green "I swear one day-" He already was raising his hand slowly as someone screamed. Someone screamed. No, not someone. It was Linda.

"STOP!"

Harry started sobbing. "Linda!" He used Uncle Vernon's short startle, to struggle himself free and run over to Linda to throw himself into her arms. Linda wrapped her arms around Harry and stroke his wild shock of hair gently. It was the first time Harry had hugged her.

"Who are you?", shouted uncle Vernon, his voice nearly flipping over.

Linda took Harry's hand into hers. "Everything will be fine." Her smile made him calm down so that wiped over his snotty nose.

"I'm only asking once: Who are you?", growled Uncle Vernon as both of them headed over to the Dursley's.

"M-My..." She coughed slightly. "My name is Linda Hawthorn."

"And what is ya' goddammit buisness?"

Inwardly, Linda only wanted to start crying and shaking, but Harry could only see how she stood there confronting his tyrannic guardians.

"I-I...I'd like to-to..." She took a deep breath. Besides looking so nervous, everything about her seemed serious. Her voluminous and brown hair, that normally fell wave past down her shoulders, was now comped into tight bun. And instead of one of her yellow skirts, she wore dark blue cotton pants and her black coat. She looked older, more experienced. "I want take him with me!", she stated and layed her hand protectively on Harry's schoulder.

The Dursley's needed a short while to comprehend Linda's words and even after this moment they could just stare at her.

"I've got a sufficent payed job, an own flat and I am willing to come up for everything that he will ever need!" Harry stared up o her. She...wanted to take him with her? He would be free? Free of Dudley's constant bullying, free of his endless chores, the cupboard and the gounding and several punishments for things he never had done. No more aunt Petunia, no more unlce Vernon, no more cousin Dudley. A glimmer of hope crept to the surface.

"You mean you...you want to take care of _him_?" Uncle Vernon spat the last word, like there was some kind of bug creeping over his tongue.

"Y-Yes." Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia stared at eachother. "I-I mean you obviously don't care about him much and-and I do. A-And I think Harry would like to stay with me!?"

"I want to! I do!" Harry nearly jumped as he pulled at Linda's coat.

"We can do it right now!", she hastily said and held up a worn down sport bag. "We just pack his stuff in here and leave. Right now!"

Then Vernon Dursley laughed full heartedly. "You do that! I bet you belong to the same lot as his parents did! - You heard that Tunia? We're free!" And then he bursted in laughder. "Dudley! Duddley! It's time to rejoice! Your retarded cousin is leaving!" As much as his uncle's words stung him, he tried not to care, that the Dursleys were'nt even showing a single hint of sadness about his nearing departure. Uncle Vernon was now heading back to the house laughing and shouting with glee, but Aunt Petunia still stood there looking suddenly pale.

"Do I have your consent?", asked Linda carefully.

"You're one of them, am I right? I am right, right?" Aunt Petunia's eyes widened.

"I am...You haven't told Harry anything, did you?" Harry observed, how aunt Petunia shook her head slowly. Somehow this wasn't the aunt he had always watched, that punished him, commanded him around, it was a deeply sad and maybe even broken aunt Petunia. Ofcourse Harry's little brain couldn't grasp all that, but it was enough to understand.

"Harry. " Linda's voice broke his stare on aunt Petunia. "Go pack your things, okay? - And get dressed. I don't want you to catch a cold..." She patted his back gently. Then Harry nodded, took the old sports bag and ran to the front door. Not looking back.

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"Mrs Dursley...Is it-"

"There is one thing!", interrupted Mrs Dursley her harshly. "That man...Dumbledore, said that Harry would only be safe if he was in a house with his mothers blood." Her thin hands were trembling in the cold. "It doesn't mean I am concerened with his well being or that I...But he...he is still...he has Lilly's eyes!" And then Mrs Dursley started crying. Silently,stiffling her sobs. But she still cried.

"What...does that mean?", asked Linda carefully.

Mrs Dursley gasped for air. "When Lilly was killed, something saved Harry...and that man said it had to do something with Lilly's...stuff and because I am her last relative alive..."

Linda's forehead wrinkled. That had been the reason? A speculation? On what? Does that mean...someday the deatheaters would be in action again...maybe even...You-Know-Who?

His mother's blood...

"I will find a way to protect him.", Linda whispered. "I will protect him with all my might. - But if it would make you feel better..."

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As fast as he could Harry stuffed everything in his reach into the bag, not caring, if it landed in there neat or not. But it didn't seem to be necessary anyway, because the bag seemed to have space enough for half of Dudley's toys. Everytime Harry put one of his few possesions into it, the occupied space seemed to disappear.

It didn't take Harry long to collect his things. A few T-shirts, two pants, three pairs of socks and one or two pullovers were beside his payama's the only clothes he currently possed. Ofcourse very singel one was a hand-me-down by Dudley. Harry owned five tin soldier – one of them missed a whle leg – and an old picture book he had stolen Dudley after his last birthday. Dudley hated books. He enjoyed his excessive toys and presents, occaisionally his various pets that all mysteriously died an early death, more than 'a bunch of papers'. Finally he pulled the already plattened plush owl from under his mattress. He loved this toy. It was the first thing he – and only he – ever owned himself. It was his first gift by someone who cared for him (as far as he could remember). He stroke over the owl's beak, before he layed it gently into the bag. As he left the dark cupboard, his eyes roamed a final time through the corridor over to the kitchen. He realised, that this wasn't a dream. He would leave this place for good.

"Should I write you?" He could hear Linda's voice emerging from the kitchen.

"No need." That was Aunt Petunia's harsh voice. Harry carried his bag over to the kitchen and sticked his head throgh the door frame. Linda held in her hands some papers, while aunt Petuntia showed her back to her as she looked out of the kitchen window.

"Oh, you're ready?" Linda smiled warmly at him. He nodded. "Then...say good bye to your aunt..."

Harry fumbled with the hem of his pullover. "Goodbye, Aunt Petunia...", he mumbled.

Aunt Petunia did not say anything back. Harry could hear Uncle Vernon and Dudley upstairs, how Dudley jumped up and down and how uncle Vernon shouted something euphoricly. Something inside him stirred. He couldn't place this feeling, far later, he would recognize this as sadness, but now his only focus layed on Linda and leaving this house.

"Let's go Harry..." Linda took Harry's hand, and together, they left Private Drive No. 4.

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**End of the chapter**

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** Thank you for reading^^**

**And I still need a beta! Come on! Come on! Don't be shy. I don't bite...usually!**


	3. The talk at the Leaky Cauldron

**Hello...Not so much time since I posted the last chapter, but I just needed to get this off my chest!**

**Ah, I adore this story so far, so just enjoy this stream of litarature!**

**And I'm still searching for a beta. **

**(Unfortunetly I am dyslexic AND german so I really need one)**

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**Chapter three**

**The talk at the Leaky Cauldron**

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All the while walking down Privet Drive and Magnoli Crescent, Harry had atleast a thousand questions running around in his head. Where would they go now? Did she live in London or elsewhere? In a house? A flat? Would he be sleeping in a bed? Or just a comfortable sofa? Certanly they would have three meals together each day. Linda would cook for him, colour with him, play with him. He already could picture himself sitting with Linda on a sofa, watching TV and eating all sorts of sweets. Then Linda would be tucking him in, reading a bedtimestory and kiss him goodnight. His heart flipped inside of his chest. His grip on Linda's hand tightened as he put his cheek against her Arm.

Could he get a pet? A real one? Not just a toy, but a real one?! Like a dog or something. Or he could just start small with a fish?

But what bugged him the most was, if this was all real. Wasn't he just dreaming? Imagining everything? The freezing cold and the snow falling from the sky told him otherwise, as the petite petals were melting on his cheeks. And if the youth welfare office would come after them? Harry had heart about this, when he was secretly watching TV after the Dursley's went out for a short while. Would they really bring him back? He wanted to stay with Linda so badly. It was not because everything comparing to the Dursley's was better – exept maybe staying with aunt Marge . It just was the first time someone treated him like an actaual, worthy human being. Not like some kind of servant or useless piece of furniture. With her, he was just Harry Potter. A normal boy. A loved boy. A happy boy.

When they reached the crossroad between Wisteria Walk and Magnolia Crescent, Linda stopped.

„Harry?" He looked up to her smiling face. „From here, we will take a bus, okay?" Harry was confused. „But we're not even at a bus station..." There had never been a bus station on the Wisteria Walk and Harry knew his way around in this neighbourhood. There had been enough occaisions, where he had to 'explore' those streets for flight possibilities.

"We will take a special bus. It is very unique, you know?"

Harry blinked even more confused. How could a bus be unique, beside of driving a route where buses normall won't be seen even from afar?

"It might scare you at first, but I can assure you, nobody had ever been harmed." Now he felt scared. Linda on the otherside smiled down to him and patted his head, before reching into her cloak. She pulled out a dark brown or maybe black wooden stick. She raised it, like someone would have called a taxi...well without that stick maybe.

Harry couldn't even form the first two words of 'What are you doing?' when a loud BANG! erupted from out of nowhere. Startled he jumped against Linda, who staggered a bit to the right. Righ there infront of them stood a purple, triple decker bus. Harry's eyes widened in shock. He should have had heard it. Everyone should be able to hear a bus this size even if it wasn't in sight.

The bus door opened with a quiet squeak. "Welcome to the Knight Bus!", said an old wrinkly man in a tattered and greyish uniform. He didn't seem to be too enthusiastic, but friendly enough. "My name is Steven Roderick and for today I will be your conductor."

"Good day, sir." Linda tucked her stick back into her coat and in exchange pulled two – what it seemed like – bus tickets out of her pocket. Steven Roderick took the outstreged tickets, stamped them with some kind of hole punch and gave them back to her. "To where can we bring you two?", he asked, as he stepped aside, so that Harry and Linda could get on the bus.

Instead of the neat seat rows, that normally could be found in every normal bus, but because this was a...unique bus, all of them were clustered around the place In some of them sat people wearing dresses and capes. On of the even wore a pointed hat that certanly wasn't placed there for keeping warmth. Another one had hid his face behind a paper, bu none Harry had ever heard of. He might not be reading that fluently alredy, but he could make out the last bit of the name, as he and Linda passed this man. 'Prophet'. Everytime aunt Petunia had brought him shopping with her, they had passed a newspaper stand and never had he ver spotted something like a 'Prophet'.

"To the 'Leaky Cauldron', please.", said Linda, as she guided Harry to an empty seat. Steven Roderick nodded and turned arount to the driver's cabin.

"Harry, sit tight!" Suddenly she sounded serious...too serious for Harry's liking. Quickly she grabbed seatbelts (since when did a bus seat have seatbelts) and instead of just fastening them, she wrapped them first around the seat and then knotted them infront of Harry's belly tightly together. "Hold onto the belts through the whole ride, okay?"

Carefully he nodded. Wasn't this just a bus ride? Although even not unique bus rides could be a bit wobbly, but seatbelts? And clutching to the the whole ride?

"You don't have to be afraid. It will be over in a few minutes." Harry nodded and watched as Linda knotted her seatbelts together and placed the old sport bag on her lap.

And then the ride began...

* * *

"Leaky Cauldron!" Steven Roderick opened the bus door and conducted the leaving passengers outside. Linda glanced to Harry. He was shaking, maybe on the brink of crying, but still amazed. She freed herself out of her seatbelt and helped Harry loosening the knot.

"Do you feel okay?"

Harry nodded, sniffing a bit. "Is it over now?"

"Yes." She decided to tell Harry later, that they had to ride the knight bus again. For now, this was enough (negative) stress for him. They still needed to get to her flat in Aberdeen, but this could wait after the short shopping trip and...the 'talk'. After this heidious ride, he was deemed to have questions. After all they may have defied one or the other law of physics.

"Do you live here?", asked Harry, when the knight bus just disapeared again.

"No. But i thought, before we go home, we could get you some new stuff for your room." Harry grinned overjoyed. Behind his glasses, she could see how his eyes sparkled.

"I get an own room?"

Linda tried not to wrinkle her eyebrows and instead simply smiled. "Yep. An own room, an own bed and an own wardrobe." He reached for her hand and together they walked over to the entrance of th 'Leaky Cauldron'.

"Harry, does anything seem unnormal to you?" Harry looked over to the buildings infront of them. Between an old record shop and a book store was a tiny, grubby looking pub. The people running hurrily by didn't even glance at it. As if they weren't be able to see it at all. That and the fact, that nobody on the streets ever called the police or even honked as the Knight Bus had spedeed and jumped down the streets, seemed to bring him to the conclusion, that either the other people on this planet were unbelieveable stupid ore something was different. Timidly he said the same to her.

"Your a smart boy. - Harry this is the Leaky Cauldron." She pointed at the grubby pub. "It is quite famous among us."

Together they walked towards the door. "Why are we going in there? I thought we would go shopping?"

"We will. But first we have to get you something to eat." She could read Harry's face expression without fault. Eating after THIS kind of bus ride?

Inside, Linda guided Harry to small table in a corner and ordered from the only waitress the 'Leaky House Soup' for both of them. She had made sure that Harry's bangs covered his forehead completely, so that no havoc could break out about 'Harry Potter being in the very same room'.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but the 'Leaky House Soup' is the right thing after travelling with the Knight Bus."

Harry nodded, but he gazed around the pub; his attention layed on the other guests.

"L-Linda! Look!" Suddenly Haary pointed with his finger at a bored looking man who was reading a book in the dim light of the pub. "His spoon!" Right there in his tea cup was his spoon spinning and stirring his tea. "Why is it doing that?" He turned his big eyes back to Linda.

"Because he is a wizard."

His face froze; disbelieve all over his face. "A wizard? Like the ones doing card tricks and pull bunnies out of their hats?"

Linda laughed. "No." She turned her head, making sure nobody was watching them. "Harry what I am going to tell you is not easy to handle, okay?" Now or never. She took a deep breath. "Harry...magic is real. Everything out of those fairytales is real. Unicorns, trolls, goblins, fairies, witches and wizards. That's why everyone around here is dressed so strange, wear pointed hats and why no one else was able to see the 'Leaky Cauldron'. Everything is true."

For a while Harry just stayed silent, staring at her as if a second head had grown out of her neck, then he opened his mouth. "Magic? So you are..."

"A witch. I am a witch, Harry. And you are a wizard."

Just in this moment, the waitress brought them their soup and a glass of lemonade for Harry. When she left their table, Harry took his spoon and started dipping it in out of his slimey meal.

"A wizard...B-But how? I never did anything with magic?"

"Are you sure? Nothing mysterious or strange ever happened that no one could explain?"

Harry seemed like he couldn't say anything against it. "But...how?"

"Your parents were wizards."

"How do you know that?"

"In our world, your parents were famous. Famous for being one of the most talented and gifted witch and wizard of their generation."

"Really?" Harry's eyes started shining.

"Really. I've seen pictures of them in the papers. You look a lot like them."

Harry gasped and promptly let his spoon fall into his soup, which splattered all over his pullover. "Really?"

"Really, really." Linda laughed and used her serviette to wipe away the soup stains. "And that's why I think that from now on, you should live in this world, your parents world."

"Do you know, what my parent's job was? Where did they go to school? C-Can I see a picture of them?"

She laughed again. "Sadly, I don't know what your mother did, but your father was an Auror. It's like a policemen with muggles."

"Muggles?" Harry giggled.

"That's what wizard and witches call non magical persons. For example your aunt, uncle and cousin are muggles."

Harry giggled again. "I like that!"

"I bet you do! - But what about we eat the soup and then look around the market. I think you will like Diagon Alley more than just the word 'muggle'."

* * *

**Thanks for reading^^**

**I hope you'll continue reading it. And if you have questions or suggestions how the story should go on: Name them and I'll answer them openly at the beginning of each chapter!**

**'Till next time**


	4. Flourish & Blotts

**I just couldn't resist! (psssst...I'm still looking for a beta)**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Flourish & Blotts**

* * *

The soup tasted like nothing Harry ever had eaten before. It was a mixture of beans, potatos, sausages, a not to be identified kind of turnip and orange. But despite it's unusual taste, gave the soup a fuzzy feeling to Harry's stomach and it feld as if the turbulent bus ride never had happened. Linda had ordered him a cup of pumpkin juice, which he drank eagerly. At the Dursley's he hadn't been allowed juice often so he took small sips to savour the sweetly taste on his tongue for as long as possible.

After they finsihed their meal, Linda took out of her wallet a two silver an twelve brown coins and put them down on the table. Harry eyed them curiously. On the brown coin was some kind of dear engraved, while on the silver ones some kind of dragons; at least he thought that they were.

"That's wizard money!", explained Linda. She pointed at the brown coin. "This is a galleon and.." Her forefinger shifted to the silver ones. "...these are sickles."

"Cool...", breathed Harry. He wondered if would ever get pocket money. Uncle Vernon always made sure, that on every monday morning Dudley would get exact five pounds for the week. Dudley would always spend his money on a whim for sweets and useless knick knacks and then take other pupils lunch money to buy even more. Harry had been envious of that, but learned to live with it. Maybe, he would get pocket mo ney some day. Wizard pocket money.

"I'm not good with numbers, but I think that's about 6.20 Ⱡ..." She wrinkled her eyebrows.

Honestly, Harry didn't care about converting currencies. He was just facinated by this new world.

"Well, let's go. We have still some things to do, before we can go home!"

Home...Harry's heart flipped in his chest.

* * *

He followed her through a unremarkable door, Harry hadn't even noticed at first, to a shabby backyard where only an old barrel in the corner stood. They faced a simple brick wall.

"And now?" Harry looked to the brick stones then to Linda. "I thought we were going shopping!", he whined, anxious to see more of this world.

"Patience is a virtue, didn't you know that?"

His pouting expression, made Linda laugh out loud, but she still took her wooden stick out of her coat. "Look..." She tapped the Stick in a certain rythm against one of the bricks.

The brick, the stick had touched, started to quiver, then a small hole appeared in the wall. It grew wider and wider and suddenly they were facing a large archway to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

Harry felt Linda's hand reassuring him at his back as they stepped throug the archway. Quickly he gazed over his shoulder, only to see how the wall practically sat itself together again.

Harry wished he had eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everyything at once: the shps, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon. Linda's voice pulled him out of his awe.

"That Harry, is Diagon Alley. It's the center of wizard London and one of the oldest magic places in whole Britain. In 1245 AD -" He didn't listen to that she said after that. History wasn't what he was interested in, the people, the witches and wizards were. All of them wore strange robes and pointed heads. Some of them carried strange formed packages. He was sure, that he heard something hissing out of one.

After what felt like an entire journey, Linda guided them towards a shop called '_Scribullus Writing Instruments_'.

"It'll be quick. I just need some new parchments and ink for my work." As she pulled him inside of the shop and was hit by the warm air, he wondered what wizard's were doing for a living. Did they present shows for muggles? Or were fortune tellers? Or did they...

The shop was small, but had a lot of shelves packed with neatly sorted, yellowish papers. Colourfull and plushy feathers sticked in crytall vasès besides inkbottles of every size, every colour and every shape.

Linda took a big, bulgy bottle, that was almost as high as her forearm, filled with pitch black ink and a thick pile of this strange papers. All the while Harry clammered her hand, what made it quite difficult for her to carry her things. And old wrinkly women behind the counter smiled down to him. Harry shied away.

Linda put her things on the counter.

"One galleons, twelve sickles and twenty five knuts please.", the counter woman – no- witch chirped.

"A galleon? A whole galleon?" Harry saw Linda's slighly shocked face. "Three months ago this had cost only fifteen sickle and three Knuts."

"Well dear, our rent was raised in december." The witch shrugged. "We have to live off something too..."

Harry wasn't sure, but he swore he had heard Linda whisper: "And what about me?" At this time, he couldn't place that statement well - later, when he would be older, he would understand it completely.

Linda placed the money timidly on the counter, while the counter witch shrank the parchment and the inkbottle to a pocket size, so that Linda could stuff it into the sportsbag.

They left the shop immedately.

* * *

After that Linda bought Harry two new pullovers and one pair of dragon skin winter boots that should replace his worn out trainers, which were Dudley's old ones, therby they were cluttered with dried paint, little holes and even a little scorch rested one the tip of the left one.

A shop further, called 'Flourish & Blotts', Harry was allowed to pick out one book he wanted. The first thing he was allowed to pick out himself. Ofcourse it took him quite a while to decide on something (espeacially when he tried to read the flourished titles) as he ran up and down Linda in tow pulling here and there a random book out of the shelves.

There seemed to be thousands of books Harry couldn't decide of. Every new book was quirkier, stranger than than the last he had looked at. With his tiny fingers he stroke over the leather cover of 'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot ( or Sathildo Bogshat, the letters were too floorished to read clearly for Harry's eyes), when his gaze met the 'Quidditch' section.

"Linda...what is Q-Qui...Quidditch?" No longere interested in 'A History of Magic', he almost tossed it back on the bookshelve and moved over to the desired

"Quidditch?" Linda, who had been lost between 'The gobbely Goblin Rebellions' by Isaac Puddlewater and 'Merlin the Not-So great' by Morrigan Fender, looked down only to see, that Harry wasn't beside her anymore and instead standing infront of the sports literature.

"Oh...well, it's a sport. The equi- I mean...you could somehow compare it to football; but you play it on brooms..."

Harry whirled around. "Brooms?" His eyes started shining. "Like flying and everything?"

And so they left 'Flourish & Blotts' with a brand new copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages'

* * *

**End of Chapter **

* * *

**This turned out to be quite short, but I hadn't had the time for more (I HATE EXAMS!)**

**I think I'll update around christmas again!**

**'Till then^^**

**Allytsuki**


	5. Professor Dumbledore

**...Still in need of a beta!**

* * *

**Professor Dumbledore**

* * *

Cassandra was a slim, pale but beautifull witch. Nobody could deny that with her heart shaped face, brilliant blue eyes and red hair, she could be considered as a classic beauty. From an early age she was praised and fawned over, which made her not only slightly arrogant, but also cynicyal and a bit cold hearted. By all means, she wasn't cruel or anything alike; only a little repelling. She easily could look through most of the men's smooth lies, that she encountered everywhere she went. Dishonesty made her furious. And her Fury over it grew over the years that it made her already quite bitter at the tender age of twenty.

This might be the reason, why her and Linda were best friends. Linda had at first been in Cassandra's eyes a stupid, slow and akward Hufflepuff girl who couldn't even find her way through the corridors of Hogwarts by herself. Well, first thoughts ought to be wrong!

After a disastrous potion lesson, where Linda mixed up several ingrediants and their meisure, both of them were sitting in the hospital wing with burnt robes and pink slime all over them that just wouldn't let itself be removed. Cassandra still could hear her apologizing all over again. Back then Linda nearly started to cry, if Cassandra hadn't put a stop to it with the simple words 'Mistakes always happen' and then they had been talking, laughing and had decided that from now on, Cassandra would help her with the potions in exchange for the Transfiguration homework – one of the three subjects Linda was brilliant in - until the end of the term. Linda always seemed to be the perfect stereotype for a Hufflepuff. Akward, by no means sporty, guillible and slightly lousy with Charms. But she also couvored the romantic side of this house: Loyal, honest, friendly and kind hearted. Cassandra could depend on her in every aspect (well if it wasn't for directions) and that gave her the assurance that out in this crazy world were still good people.

Still there is one thing about Linda that Cassandra never appreciated: She was kind and understanding to _everyone,_ even to those who treated her poorly and disrespectfull. In all those years they had been friends, she just couldn't find a way to talk her out of this dreadfull habit. And after meeting _the_ Harry Potter bruised and frightened, she already could tell that something would happen soon. Very soon.

* * *

It felt like coming from hell to heaven. At least that was what Harry assumed it had to feel like.

While living with the Dursley's he had been from nine of ten times woken up by Aunt Petunia's insistent knocking on his cupboards door; it had never been very pleasant, but the Dursley's certanly did not care to make anything comfortable for him. Since he lived with Linda, these disturbing mornings almost appeared to him like bad dream.

Everyday for the last couple of weeks, he woke up to Linda's clumsiness in the kitchen (a pot falling down to the kitchen floor, Linda's muffled scream, when she had cut herself with a knife again) or simply the sound and smell of the cooking breakfast. He would open his eyes to see the red painted walls of his own room. Beside him on his nightstand layed 'Quidditch through the Ages', in which he read everyday a couple of pages. He was alread at chapter 4, where the establishment of the golden snitch is described and illustrated with paintings and pictures, which all seemed to come to live as he turned the pages.

Linda had already shown him magic. She had used spells and charms to make the pots and pans fly in the air, drawing circles and spirals before dipping themselves into the sink, also she created only with a flick of her wand little fireworks in their living room and once she had even tried to tame Harry's unroughly hair with it, but it only resulted in Harry going to school with electric blue hair for the rest of the week.

Yes, Harry still went to to a muggle school in Aberdeen and he was surprised how fun it could be. He still felt quite shy, but had made one or two friends these past few weeks. When he asked her, why he needed to go to muggle school – Hey, he was a wizard now! - she answered that even wizards needed to learn writing and arithmetic. His respond, that he already was able to do that, strangely didn't convice her very much. So when Harry opened his eyes only to be blinded by the daylight that shimmered through the yellowish curtains, he glanced at his alarm clock. Hastily he closed his eyes again.

In that same moment, Linda knocked on his door. "Harry!", she practically sang. "Rise and shine, sleepy head!"

Harry stayed silent.

After five minutes, the door too his room opened. He heard Linda coming closer. "Harry..." She sat down on the edge of his bed. "You have to get up..." Harry didn't even flinch. Then he could feel how Linda put her hand on his shoulder and started to shake him gently. "You'll be late for school..." Slowly Harry opened his eyes to meet the blurry image of Linda smiling down to him. He smiled brightly, but caught himself in the same moment. "Morning...", pretendidly slurred and rubbed his eyes. Linda laughed as she stood up. "Get up. Breakfast is ready."

"Okay!"

Harry smiled to himself. He had developed this trick to not only stay longer in bed, but also to get all the attention he wanted from Linda. The weekends were even better! Linda and him would have breakfast in bed, huddled only in their pyjamas under his blanket. She would read to him out of 'Quidditch through the Ages' and from time to time they had a pillow fight.

It made him feel all bubbly and statisfied.

He streched his arms and legs, put his glasses on his nose and treid not to dash into the kitchen, where Linda already had put his plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of toast and grilled tomatos.

"I'm going shopping today.", announced Linda as she filled a glass with pumkin juice for Harry. He looked away from his breakfast. Sping finally had hit Aberdeen and it was warm enough again for Linda to wear the same yellow dress, she had worn when they had first met. But because of the still cold air, she wore black tights and a black cardigan that made her look like a bumblebee. "Do you need something for school? Say it know, otherwise you have to wait for next week."

Harry shook his head. "I'm good.", he wanted to say, but his mouth had been stuffed with eggs and toast, so only a muffled "Mhmf mhmd." came out.

Before Linda could even gave her disaproval, the bell rang. She wrinkled her eyebrows. "Who might _that_ be?"

Quickly she turned of the gascooker and tippled over to the front door to open it. Harry looked after her, taking a big gulp of pumpkin juice.

Linda's blood froze in her vains as she stared into the man's face. There right on her doorstep stood the perhaps most famous wizard besides Harry Potter and You-Know-Who himself: Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, Order of Merlin (first class) Grand Socererer, Leader of the Order of the Pheonix and ofcourse headmaster of Hogwarts was standing on her doorstep.

"P-Pr-Professor D-Dumbledore!", she shrieked. What in the name of Merlin the great was Albus Dumbledore doing here? Linda was speachless, her mouth hanging wide open.

"Good Morning, Ms Hawthorn. A lovely spring day is announcing itself, don't you think so?" His eyes twinkled through his half moon glasses down at her. "May I come in?"

"O-O-Ofcourse, s-sir!" She practically jumped out of the way. Then she remembered Harry, who was staring at them, in his hand the glass with pumpkin juice. Her heart stopped. Did Dumbledore knew where Harry had stayed after his parents death? Ofcourse he did...he was Albus freaking Dumbledore! But...he might no know, how Harry looked now...Oh please! Harry looked exactly like his parents!

Shaking she closed the frontdoor behind them. "Can I offer you some tea, P-Pr-Professor?" As fast and still normal looking as she could she went over to Harry and pushed him lightly back on his chair. "A-And maybe some breakfast?!" Just appear like a normal family-

"Tea is more than enough, but thank you..." Harry still stared at Dumbledore. Ofcourse Linda could understand this completely: Even with wizard's Dumbledore appeared strange and somehow alien.

Linda tried to calm down, as she poured the steaming hot tea into her best cup. She put it infront of her former headmaster and coughed slightly. Dumbledore had positioned himself on the opposite of Harry, who was still staring at him.

She coughed slightly. "Professor...I don't want to apea rude – I-I am delighted to see you again! Really! B-But..." Nervous she bit her lip.

On the other side, Dumbledore looked even more relaxed than anyone could ever be. His pinky even seemed to move in a silent rythm.

"Ms Hawthorn, I think we know, why I am here." He put his tea cup back down on the table. Linda shuddered. Please no...Please let it be her N.E.W.T. Results being miscalculated or that they had found her silver ring she lost in fourth grade... "But first, introduce me to this young lad. I think he is rather curious about the person, who intruded your flat, Ms Hawthorn."

She swallowed and layed her hand protectively on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, this is the headmaster of Hogwarts – the wizard school I told you about, remember?" Harry nodded, still staring over to him. "Professor Dumbledore...this is...Harry..."

Dumbledore chuckled amused, as Harry tried to end his stare. "Since when is he staying with you Ms Hawthorn?", he asked rather seriously

"January...", she said. Dumbledore didn't look pleased at all, but he seemed to hide it pretty well and decided to turn to Harry.

"Did you know Harry, that your dear Linda had kidnapped you?", he said and twinkled.

"Do kidnapped people go with their kidnappers freely?, Hary asked so innocently that Linda had to smile.

"Not usually.", smirked Dumbledore. "But it is still abduction." He gave Linda a meaningfull glance.

"Harry...you should get dressed...", whispered Linda. Harry wanted to protest, but when he looked into Linda's eyes he just nodded and went to his room.

As soon as Harry's door fell shut, Linda started pleading.

"No...please. They never wanted him!" She grasped her hands, as if she was praying. "He wasn't happy there. He-"

"Ms Hawthorn, the Dursley's are his last living relatives. It is the only-"

"No!" Linda was maybe even more surprised over her sudden outburst than Dumbledore himself. "I-I...I mean...He was living in a cupboard, Professor. His cousin bullied and hit him. The abused him verbally, called him names, told him his parents were killed in a car accident, that his father was an alcoholic and his mother a...a...it's a very bad word Professeor..." Her gaze met the table, while her eyes started to water. "And I didn't decided on a whim. I-I visited him for months, talked with him, played with him. I have two jobs, he goes to school, he's happy, Professor!" Hastily she wiped away the flowing tears. "They did not want him...A-And I know about the protection spell! They didn't want him!" Her head shot over to Dumbledore. "I-I brought Mrs Dursley's blood with me...I performed one of the old rituals on this flat! He's safe!"

"Ms Hawthorn..." Dumbledore took off his glasses. "This kind of magic we're talking about, can't be immitated by a simple ritual. It's mightier than anyone of us could ever be."

"I will protect him with everything I've got!", she cried. "I would give my life for him!"

"And why would that be?" Linda froze on the spot. "Why would you give up your future for someone you don't share a conection with? No blood, no obligation, no history is shared with the Potters and you. So pray tell me?"

"B-Because...because-be-because..." She sniffed. "I'm..." She took a deep breath. "I'm a Hufflepuff!"

Now Dumbledore seemed to be speachless and his smile wavered. "Ms Hawthorn, I admire your passion and bravery;you sound like a true Gryffindor, but I have to insist-"

Just then, the door to Harry's room bursted open and the little boy ran over to Linda and threw himself against her. "NO!" His little arms cluthed around her legs, while he pressed his face against Linda's belly. "Don't bring me away...I want to stay with Linda!" Linda wrapped her arms around Harry and kissed his messy hair, trying to hold back her tears. "I don't want to go back to _them_..." Slowly he turned his head to Dumbledore. "Please..."

Dumbledore sat there for a while staring at the two of them, then he rose from the chair.

"I think I have seen enough" Linda wrapped her arms tighter around Harry. "I will decide later on this arrangement. But for now, he may stay..."

* * *

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**...I didn't learn for my german exam...happy now?!**

**Hey...I still want a beta? Anyone intersted?!**


	6. A Call

**Chapter 6**

**A call**

* * *

Linda took the rest of the day of. She couldn't concentrate on Sir Allymere and Sir Cattergrin and how they lead the rest of the Knights to Avalon and their fight with Coealia, the fairy witch. The runes would turn blurry infront of her eyes or the sentence structure a total mess. Also she still had brought Harry to school, even if he had protested very loudly, that he wouldn't leaver side. It was also the first time, she had seen Harry angry. He did not shout or made a tantrum, but his slim face had taken a feature, that she had never seen on a child before. Although, Harry had quickly calmed down and in the end went to school, it left an impact on Linda and she had gotten the feeling that Dumbledore was hiding something.

Had it something to do with death of the Potters? The Prophet wrote that You-Know-Who invaded the house where the Potters went into hiding, murdered the Potters and was mysteriously defeated by the infant Harry. Was there something more behind it?

But Linda knew, that it would only result in more questions, if she investigated further, so she decided to give them a rest and concentrate on finding a solution so that Harry could stay forever.

Dumbledore stated, he could stay for now... How long would that be? She shuddered. She should write to him. Confront him. It was easier to write than to speak up your mind. Stll, she decided to postpone the letter and firs call her parents.

She didn't need to wait long. Her mother had the habit to sit next to the phone, while embroidering a new pillow case.

"Hawthorn residence, Mrs Hawthorn speaking?!"

"Hello, Mom. It's Linda..."

She heard her mother gasping. "Oh, Linda! How dare you to ingnore all my calls! It's been two weeks! Two whole weeks without a life sign!" Since Mrs Hawthorn quit work, because of her worsening hip, which she had broken last winter, she insisted that her children called every week.

"I am sorry, Mom.", she said truthfully. "But I had a lot on my plate the last weeks. I-"

"Don't you dare, Linda! How can I bear, that my little, little girl is working herself to the bone far, far away from home?! And you don't even have the time to call your own mother once!", her mother ranted more or less seriously.

"Mom, please!" Linda whined. "I really need to tell you something."

"Did something happen?" Her mother sounden concerened.

"Yes-No-I mean..." Linda took a deep breath. "When I come over for my birthday...I won't be coming alone. I-"

"You met someone?!" Linda had to hold the receiver away from her ear, so loud was her mother's pitched voice. "Finally! I thought you would die as an old maiden! Everybody is asking me in church, when you finally would introduce us to husband-to-be! And now, finally the time-"

"No! Mom!", shrieked Linda. "I'm not going out with anyone, I didn't even met a man I would! - I just want to tell you..."

"Sweetie...you don't have to be ashamed of yourself. A lot of single women have pets. I'm sure your cat-"

"Harry is not a cat!"

"Ha! So you did meet someone!"

"No! - I mean yes! But-"

"Ohhh!", her mother sang. "What does he do for aliving? A lawyer? A doctor? A-"

"Mom! Harry is six!"

Silence.

"Mom?!...Are you there?" Worried Linda twirled the telephone cord in her fingers.

"W-Why would you bring a child over?...I mean...You weren't pregnant six years ago..."

Linda sighed. Why did her father marry her mother again?

"Mom...I-I...I met Harry last summer. His parents died, when he was just a year old. His guardians mistreated him, his cousin bullied and hit him...I couldn't leave him there..."

"Oh Linda..."

"He's staying since three months ago...That's why I was so busy..."

"Oh Linda...", sighed her mother again. "Sometimes you resemble your father so much..."

* * *

Mr and Mrs Hawthorn met when they were only teenagers. Mr Hawthorn had been the skinny, glasses wearing boy you always could find in the first row, solving mathmatic problems like they were simple puzzles. Mrs Hawthorn on the other hand, was the ditzy and chatty girl, who had been sitting in the last row, chewing gum and whispering with her girlfriends, twirling her dark blond hair around her second finger. No body would have ever believed that both would be married and get their first child not a few years later.

Both of them hadn't had a decent conversation until tenth grade. Mrs Hawthorn – that time simply called Mary – had lost her favourite hairclip on the school's lacrosse pitch and went after lessons to look for it. Mr Hawthorn being a total gentleman offered his help. Ever since they sticked together like chewing gum.

Later on Mr Hawthorn became an apothecary and quickly opened his own chemist after his first son was born to support his quickly growing family. Ten years after their vows, the family already consisted of six people. Mrs & Mrs Hawthorn, Laurence (the oldest), Daisy and Ivy (twins) and Alexander (to that point the youngest). All of the Hawthorn's children grew up katholic, there was no exeption. Every sunday the whole family went to church to pray and to sing. Laurence early learned to play the organ, Daisy and Ivy attended every thursday choir practise and Alexander was dropped off at a katholic kindergarten in the mornings, so that Mr & Mrs Hawthorn could go to work. It was unusual for Mrs Hawthorn to work, many people gossiped and whispered about her behind their back, but it was necessary to secure the family, so she ignored the stares and the whispers and kept her head held high.

One day after church attendance as the family returned home, they found a small bundle on their doorstep. No letter, no explanation. Just a little baby girl without a home.

They took her in, ahd clothed and fed her and treated her as their own flesh and blood. Linda grew up as a joyfull and endearing child, but it was undeniable, that something seemed off. Her sibling's broken toys had mended themselves on their own, bullies in school had turned blue and sometimes Mrs Hawthorn watched, how her delicate roses started glowing after Linda had spoke to them.

Once she had spoken about it at confession, but the priest stated that god had given her a precious gift that they had to cherish. As Linda got older, the strange events seemed to increase every day so that even the Hawthorn's enviroment started to notice this.

And the day Linda turned eleven a woman name Minerva McGonnagal stood on their doorstep, everything changed.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

**I Know...it's a really short chapter, but christmas is aproaching and I really need to do my homework now...**

**(At least exams are over ;)**


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